You Are the Gift
A Soul chat, a song, and a 5-min. practice to open & expand your gifts 🌟
It’s Flourishing Friday, Brave Creative. We’re here to connect around our Heart’s desire to create, our Soul’s intuitive knowing, and the Monkeys of Fear that make things HARD. Ever wonder about your purpose? Today’s Soul chat & 5-min. practice (jump to prompts) is for you.
Amidst grief, loss, and pending surgery for my sweetheart (it’s done and all is well), it’s been tough to get juiced about creative projects. Mr. Downer Monkey says:
You're never gonna finish that graphic novel or record that album. All you do is care-giving, cook and call doctors. You barely even journal or write in your weekday Zoom.
Ahhhh… it’s true. My energy is dispersed. Six months ago, I planned to feed three creative dreams:
Make a Substack to connect with Brave Creatives like you 🙌🏽 (YAY! check ✅).
Refine and pitch “Meet Your Monkeys,” a graphic novel and short film to support the mental well-being of young people (a few fits, starts, and stops).1
Sing daily (yes!) and record a collection of my songs (this will happen before I die).
It’s a lot in the best of circumstances. As a multi-passionate manifesting generator,2 I make a lot of stuff. Always have.
Then Life gets super demanding. Moms reckon with this daily. Kids need us. Aging parents need us. Work and adulting, too (hello, taxes! 😩). Brave Creatives like us squeeze our projects into stolen bits of time. Still, postponing takes an emotional toll.
My Soul sees it all from a beautiful perspective. So I asked her, “What now?”3
May her message help to melt any worries about your purpose, too.
Patience, my love. And trust. Trust that this time is very well spent. For your evolution. When you feel yourself go “sideways,” to fall into the despair of not fulfilling your purpose, your callings, your gifts — please believe that you are always living your purpose.
There is no fear of wasting time. Of not reaching a goal. Your true being knows: the achievements on the material plane are part of maya, the illusion.4 Like that 70’s song that plays in your mind, “Dust in the Wind.” You’re part of a flow of energy that constantly creates and composts the river of life. You’re always living it.
Whoa! 😱 So my inner pressure to “Do, Do, Do” is kinda like Dust in the Wind?5
You say you want your work to make people feel, to laugh and to cry. You believe this must happen through your words, a book, video, film, and music. This may be true. Yet you move people’s hearts daily. They laugh. They cry. They feel deeply, in relation to your energy, how do you show up, how you love life and this world. How you care for them.
It’s only your little Monkey ego - a sweetie pie - that craves a product and recognition. What matters is that your work - and your presence - expands hearts and souls.
She’s right. Let’s trust that our desire to fulfill creative visions doesn’t have to get encrusted with pressure and disappointment. I’m grateful for this fresh energy to take more brave, creative baby steps. To make beautiful dust. To feed the wind. To laugh with you, and to cry. While we’re still here.
What’s your gift? Try this 5-minute imagination game.
May this 5-min. practice bring you a sense of purpose, to know your gifts. Follow in this video, featuring my alter-ego Queen Poopicina reading the ‘Holy Sh*t’ 💩 version of the tool and a spontaneous gospel riff. Or read the steps below.
The Gift: What do I have to offer?
BREATHE fully. RECALL a time you felt empty, not sure of your life’s purpose, “what’s the point?”
CONSIDER: your purpose is not only what you DO, but also to simply BE in your body, to experience life from your unique perspective.
IMAGINE that you also have some gifts to share.
VISUALIZE holding this gift. FEEL its weight, note its wrapping.
ENVISION opening the gift. What’s inside? Any clues? What does it look and feel like?
ASK, “How does my gift want to be expressed or shared?” (it’s ok if it’s not clear yet; keep asking).
REFLECT when done, “My gift is.... ”
Make it Real: Unpack your gifts
EXPLORE: Write or share about opening your Gift. Add your comment.
CREATE: Use your gift(s) to make something that pleases you. Give it to someone, possibly randomly.
MANIFEST: This week, find 3 small ways to share your gifts in some way. This could mean doing anything that you truly enjoy (even if it feels risky or weird).
🗣️ We’re not alone in this! I wanna know…
What song plays in your head in those “what’s it all about?” moments?
When Life takes over and squishes your brave creative plans, you handle it by…
How do your Gifts show up? Doing things? Simply Being?
Thank you for opening your gift 💝 and giving it away. When you click that heart, comment, or share with someone who wonders, “what’s it all for,” you help more brave creative souls find us. 🙏🏼💗🙌🏽 It means a lot.
More Dust to come!
See a barrel of “Meet Your Monkeys” over at HeartsQuest.com
Want to chat with your soul? Check out my friends’ work at Holy and Human.
“Maya is the veil that covers our real nature and the real nature of the world around us.” The concept of Maya, Vendanta.org.
“Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, 1977 soft rock classic. The poofy hair doesn’t take away from the poignant message (which resonates more as our dear friend passed last week).
I was just talking to a friend about how put off we are when people tell us how busy they are. So much is a choice. Sometimes we can choose how to spend our time, but other times not. How we be in the world! Such good stuff!
Mmmmmm yes, postponing does take an emotional toll on us MGs!!!!! I try to remember that the universe has a much better sense of timing that I do